Nancy Pelosi slams Wall Street Journal article on Joe Biden’s mental acuity

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Wednesday joined the chorus of Democrats defending President Biden after The Wall Street Journal published an article questioning Biden’s mental acuity and performance in private meetings.

In a statement on social platform X, Pelosi criticized the reports for ignoring accounts of the conversation between Democrats and the president and instead focusing on “Republican attacks.”

“Many of us spent time with the @WSJ documenting our first-hand experiences with POTUS, where we learned of his wisdom, experience, strength and strategic thinking,” Pelosi wrote. “Yet the WSJ ignored Democrats’ testimony, focused on Republican attacks and published a smear campaign.”

The story, headlined “Behind Closed Doors, Biden Signs of Stalling,” was based on months of interviews with 45 people, including Democrats and Republicans, according to the news outlet. It included examples of Biden reading notes during meetings about Ukraine aid, deferring questions to aides and speaking in voices that were sometimes too quiet to hear.

In its article, the Wall Street Journal noted that while most of the criticism of Biden came from Republicans, “some Democrats” said “in some interactions, Mr. Biden made his age sound.”

Pelosi’s criticism was echoed by other Democrats, who took particular issue with the fact that the only member of Congress to be quoted publicly and strongly criticize the president was ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

But the White House noted that McCarthy praised Biden’s behavior during private meetings to hammer out the debt ceiling agreement.

After those meetings, McCarthy publicly told reporters that Biden was “very professional, very smart and very tough at the same time,” and has reportedly privately told colleagues that he found Biden mentally astute.

After making those remarks, McCarthy shifted his focus in numerous television appearances to highlight Biden’s alleged reliance on notecards during the meetings.

“I met him often when he was vice president, I was at his house,” McCarthy said in comments to The Wall Street Journal, adding, “He’s just not the same person anymore.”

Asked about the Wall Street Journal article on a conference call with reporters, Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez denied that premise.

“As someone who has spent and continues to spend a lot of time with the president and strives to align with his strategic approach at every turn, I can say he is one of the strongest leaders I have had the pleasure of engaging with, working with and advising,” she said.

The Wall Street Journal told The Hill that its reporting remains unchanged.

The Wall Street Journal article is the latest to raise questions about Biden’s fitness to serve as president as he seeks a second term. Biden is 81 years old and will be 86 by the end of his second term.

Republicans have long argued that Biden is unfit for the presidency and lacks the mental and physical fitness to do the job. Former President Donald Trump, who is the presumptive GOP nominee in November, has repeatedly attacked Biden as incompetent.

Democrats have pointed out that Trump is 77 and tends to stumble over his words on the campaign trail, and that he repeatedly closed his eyes for long periods of time during his recent criminal trial in New York.

Brett Samuels assisted.